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"We had a terrible August, where there were a number of messages home to say whatever was going on, while it was affecting me, it wasn't me directly," she said.

"It will be hard not to miss [family], and be missed. But internet shopping is fantastic as a way to make sure everyone has something from me."

Mrs Ashton-Kells, 34, works in the International Security Assistance Force commander's legal advisers office, and said she and other Kiwis there would get together for waffles at breakfast.

"There are little things that do remind you of home. And those small touches are the things that make it bearable. And one thing that I've found while being here is that Tim Tams make fantastic currency."

Kiwi personnel overseas:

•178 in Afghanistan•28 in Sinai Peninsula•Eight in the Middle East•Eight in Antarctica•Eight in the Solomon Islands•Five in Timor-Leste•Three in South Sudan•Three in South Korea•One in Iraq